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In Some N.B.A. Arenas, the Crowds Are Thin

A pleasant fog of noise and nostalgia descended on the Sacramento Kings for one memorable night last week. The Los Angeles Lakers were in town, fanning the embers of a dormant rivalry. For a few hours, Arco Arena rocked again.

It was — almost — like old times.

“The only thing I miss is the cowbells behind the bench,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said sarcastically that night.

There was one other notable change: Several thousand fans were cheering the Lakers. That would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, when Chris Webber and Vlade Divac challenged Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal for Western Conference supremacy, and clanging cowbells echoed across the flood plain.

But these are signs of the times in Sacramento, where droves of fans have given up their season tickets, and the cowbells have gone silent. The Kings once sold out 354 consecutive games (a streak that ended last year). They have not sold out a game this season and are averaging just 12,185 fans a game, ranking 29th in the N.B.A. They drew just 16,068 for the Lakers game, about 1,200 below capacity.

The Kings are suffering from the twin perils of a poor economy and poor play, with a 7-19 record and no certified stars. The problems are mirrored in Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Charlotte, N.C., and Memphis, which comprise the bottom fifth of the N.B.A. attendance list.

Over all, N.B.A. attendance is flat — about a half-percent higher than at this point last season on a per-game basis. Cumulatively, arenas are at about 89 percent of capacity, on par with last season.

Given the recession, league officials are actually encouraged. They are expecting neither a significant increase nor a significant decrease in attendance this season.

Still, it is hard to ignore the thousands of empty seats at Arco Arena and Conseco Fieldhouse, or anecdotal reports that things are worse than the official numbers indicate. (N.B.A. teams report attendance based on tickets distributed, not turnstile counts. The latter figure is not publicly available.)

On basketball blogs, fans and reporters swap horror stories about the anemic crowds. A Nov. 12 game between the Grizzlies and the Knicks in Memphis drew, officially, 10,129 fans, but the crowd looked much thinner. A Nov. 3 game between the Bobcats and the Pistons in Charlotte drew a reported 11,023 fans. But two-thirds of the seats appeared empty.

Fans are now wondering aloud if their teams will last until next season.

“We are a absolutely not alarmed right now about any of our markets,” said Joel Litvin, the N.B.A.’s president for league and basketball operations. “Needless to say, we’re focused on the economic crisis over all, as every business in the world is. But the word alarm has not been uttered.”

In fact, several teams are defying the recession. The Pistons, operating in one of the most depressed economies in the country, have sold out 246 consecutive games at the Palace of Auburn Hills and lead the league in home attendance, with 22,076 a game.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, despite a 2-24 record, is averaging 18,457 a game in its inaugural season at the Ford Center (capacity 19,314). The franchise drew just 13,335 fans a game last season in Seattle.

Three years after Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Hornets are averaging 16,611 a game — a 45 percent increase over the same period last season.

Perhaps no team cheers N.B.A. accountants more than the Portland Trail Blazers, who are drawing 20,516 fans a game — an increase of 5,000 over three seasons ago, when the economy was sound but the team was not. Poor play and player misdeeds so alienated the fan base that the owner, Paul Allen, filed for bankruptcy protection and handed the Rose Garden back to creditors.

Now the Blazers are one of the most exciting young teams in the league and rank third in attendance. They could provide a blueprint, and hope, to the Pacers, who also drove off fans with player arrests and incompetent play.

The Pacers are already showing modest improvement, averaging 14,181 fans a game, an 18 percent increase over the same period last season.

Still, the sight of Sacramento and Indiana near the bottom of the attendance list is jarring. The Kings and the Pacers had two of the most loyal fan bases in the league.

“Teams go through cycles,” Litvin said. “We like to think otherwise, but performance on the court can affect your business.”

The 76ers are also slumping unexpectedly, despite a surprising playoff run last spring and the off-season signing of Elton Brand, an All-Star forward. Philadelphia is averaging 13,895 a game — a 14.5 percent increase over this time last year and well shy of capacity at the Wachovia Center (20,310).

A major leaguewide dip in attendance could have other consequences. Some team officials privately worry that the salary cap — which is tied to revenue — may decrease next season. That has happened only once in the cap’s 25-year history.

It is too soon to project revenues for the season, but league officials do not anticipate a drop in the salary cap. A great portion of revenue is already locked in, through television contracts and corporate sponsorships.

For now, the league is working with teams to entice cash-strapped fans back to the arenas with value-added promotions like low-cost family packages and free food with ticket purchases.

In Sacramento, the Kings doubled the number of $10 tickets available per game to 1,000. Among their new promotions is a Guys Night Out package, which includes a ticket, a meal and a meet-and-greet with the dance team, for $55.

“I’ve been doing the games 21 years, and I never thought I would see it the way it’s been this year,” said Grant Napear, the Kings’ play-by-play announcer.

Not long ago, Arco Arena was perhaps the most raucous building in the league. But on most nights this season, “There has been no atmosphere,” Napear said. “I hate to say that, but it’s been like a library.”The Kings are actually showing an increase in group sales, partial-season plans and individual game tickets, according to Chris Granger, the N.B.A.’s senior vice president for team marketing and business operations.

Only full season-ticket sales are down, which, Granger said, “probably isn’t a surprise given the team is in transition and they face a brutal economy in Sacramento right now.” On top of everything else, the Kings are in a political battle for a new arena, and fans are nervous that they will leave.

“It’s kind of like the perfect storm here right now,” said Phil Oates, a season-ticket holder since 1985, the year the franchise moved to Sacramento. “People are just not sure. They don’t know the players, the personality of the team.”

Oates, who works for a real-estate development company, owns or controls six season tickets. He is giving up two of them next season, to save the company $14,520, because, he said, “you can’t justify a company spending on the frivolous things.” Oates is also one of the original cowbell ringers, a group that came out in force for the Lakers-Kings playoff battles earlier this decade.

“The guys are still there,” Oates said. “There’s just been no reason to ring them.”

Correction: December 22, 2008

An article on Friday about sluggish N.B.A. attendance in some cities misstated the title of Chris Granger, a league executive with knowledge of ticket sales. He is the senior vice president for team marketing and business operations, not the vice president for business operations.

A version of this article appears in print on , on page B12 of the New York edition with the headline: In Some N.B.A. Arenas, the Crowds Are Thin. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe